Excel 2010 vlookup #n/a error while value exists

Question

I am trying to use :

VLOOKUP to get the value of the ID colum in the below image :

The formula returns #N/A error although the value exists!

The formula I am using is :

=VLOOKUP(J13,$C$2:$D$10,1,FALSE)

Need help resolving this please. Thanks.

Use INDEX/MATCH. For VLOOKUP, the value must exist in the *leftmost* column of the lookup table. That is not the case here (i.e. Wael Fareed does not exist in column C). — BigBen, Dec 04 '21 at 20:08
@BigBen I am using col_index_num 1 which is the ID column for the table_array !? — wfareed, Dec 04 '21 at 20:11

Solar Mike · Answer 1 · 2021-12-04T20:27:01.007

1

Use index() with match(). Vlookup() only works to the right of the indexing column.

So:

=index(C2:C10,match(J13,D2:D10,0))

Or you could do the lazy solution of swapping col C with Col D, but other formulae you have may then fail...

edited Dec 04 '21 at 20:27

answered Dec 04 '21 at 20:10

Solar Mike

Thanks , It worked when i swapped columns :) – wfareed Dec 04 '21 at 20:16
@wfareed you would serve yourself better by implementing index() with match() as that is **so** much more flexible. – Solar Mike Dec 04 '21 at 20:17

1 Answers1